The CEC refused to order a rerun of the elections in those precincts in what the opposition portrayed as further proof that the vote was rigged by Pashinian’s government.
The final vote results are virtually identical with the CEC’s preliminary tally that gave victory to the ruling Civil Contract party. According to them, it polled almost 49.8 percent of the vote and will have 64 seats in the 105-member National Assembly. Billionaire Samvel Karapetian’s Strong Armenia bloc came in second with nearly 23.3 percent, followed by former President Robert Kocharian’s Hayastan alliance (9.9 percent) and businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (3.99 percent).
The BHK appears to have lacked several dozen votes to pass a 4 percent threshold for being represented in the National Assembly. It recovered 147 votes as a result of recounts and verifications of vote protocols conducted in recent days. However, that was offset by the CEC’s decision on Thursday to cancel vote results in the three polling stations. The BHK got 222 votes there.
Tsarukian’s party and other opposition forces condemned the decision, saying that the Armenian authorities are illegally trying to give Civil Contract a more comfortable majority in the new parliament. They said the CEC should now at least rerun the elections in those rural precincts.
The commission headed by a longtime Pashinian collaborator refused to do that, saying that the more than 3,000 voters living there cannot influence the overall election outcome. The opposition countered that they can give the BHK the missing votes that would translate into 5 parliament seats.
The BHK’s loss of those seats means that Pashinian’s party will have a 60 percent parliamentary majority required for enacting key laws and installing senior law-enforcement officials and judges. Hence, the furious opposition reaction to the CEC’s decision condemned by the BHK as well as Strong Armenia and Hayastan as illegal. Hundreds of their members and supporters rallied outside the CEC building before its announcement.
“It’s clear that CEC is directed by one person and that person is Nikol Pashinian,” BHK spokeswoman Iveta Tonoyan told reporters.
“This is the most disgraceful election I’ve seen during my 20-year political activities,” she said.
“Our people won’t allow government to be formed with stolen votes,” declared Hayastan’s Gegham Manukian.
While pledging to work together in challenging the election results, the three main opposition contenders remained in no rush to announce street protests in Yerevan. Still, a joint statement issued by them as well as three other opposition parties, hinted at such a possibility.
“Nikol Pashinian and his regime would bear full responsibility for any further escalation of the situation in the country,” the statement warned.
It claimed that the official vote results “do not reflect the true will of the people” and “cannot serve as a basis for the formation of a legitimate government.”
Pashinian has brushed aside such allegations. He claimed on Thursday that Strong Armenia, Hayastan and the BHK themselves bought all of their votes.
Pashinian claimed a “historic victory” early on June 8 when less than one-fifth of the ballots cast were counted by election officials. The premier’s political allies denied opposition claims that his statement predetermined the vote results.
